


Anxiety

by Shinketsu_Karasu



Category: Fear the Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, First Kiss, Mommy Issues, Panic Attacks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-03
Updated: 2017-08-03
Packaged: 2018-12-10 17:56:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11696871
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shinketsu_Karasu/pseuds/Shinketsu_Karasu
Summary: Anon prompt from Tumblr. Troy gets locked in the basement overnight, Madison finds him and gives him some much needed comfort.





	Anxiety

Madison was up before dawn, and the ranch was practically deserted. She found she enjoyed it this way, she had time to be alone with her thoughts, and in the quiet she could gather her strength for the day ahead. Today was no exception, except that she was up earlier than the residents that were assigned cook duty, and her stomach reminded her that she had skipped dinner the night before. As she stepped out of the trailer she shared with her two children, she looked to the east, noticing the sky was just barely beginning to lighten in preparation for the dawn. It would be several hours before breakfast was ready, so Madison made up her mind to check the Otto’s basement pantry for something quick and easy to hold her over until then.

The blonde quickly crossed the distance between her own living arrangements and the centerpiece of Broke Jaw Ranch, the large house owned by the Otto family. Avoiding the front porch, Madison made her way to the opposite side of the house where the entrance to the basement was located. The door had three latch bolts and a padlock that kept it shut against any animals or weather, and while Madison didn’t have her own key, the spare wasn’t difficult to find.

The padlock opened with a click, and Madison quickly descended the cement steps, tucking the spare key into her back pocket for later. She reached the bottom and casually flipped the light switch. Her mind was busy deciding whether she wanted granola and dried fruit or if she should grab some instant oatmeal instead, so she practically jumped out of her skin at the loud crash towards the back of the sprawling basement. Her knife was out in an instant, her body crouching low to the ground as she watched the canned goods rolling across the floor at the other end of the supply corridor.

If someone had been trying to sneak up on her, they were doing a piss-poor job. Narrowing her eyes, Madison crept forward, her knife at the ready. Slowly, silently, she made her way to the place where the cans had toppled and peered around the shelving, ready for anything. At least, she thought she was ready for anything, but she hadn’t been expecting what she saw on the other side of the steel shelves.

On the floor in front of her was none other than Troy Otto. His eyes had caught her small movement and he fixed her with a look that she’d never seen on his face before, one that would look more at home on a feral cat. His pupils were dilated, his face was sweaty, and he was trembling like a leaf in the breeze. At the sight of her knife, his mouth opened as if to speak, but no sound came out, he just kept staring at her like he was still attempting to process her sudden appearance.

Madison assessed him as she sheathed her blade. Counselor mode kicking in, she slowly and cautiously made her way towards him, her hands held up in a conciliating gesture.

“Troy,” She murmured, crouching by his feet, studying his face for signs of recognition. “It’s me, it’s Madison, remember?”

The youngest Otto’s eyes focused on her, his pupils still blown wide. He opened and closed his mouth a couple times before nodding slowly.

As she quickly put the pieces together in her head, Madison recalled a conversation that she’d had with Nick about the Otto patriarch. Nick told her that he’d confessed to locking his son in the basement and forgetting about him for a day and a night. Seeing him now, terrified on the pantry floor, the woman felt her heart clench. Despite Troy’s obvious personality defects, no one deserved to go through that.

Testing the waters, she gingerly crept closer. She knew a panic attack when she saw one, and while there was a general protocol, everyone reacted differently. Sudden movements and loud noises were out of the question.

“Troy,” She tried again. “Did you get stuck down here overnight?” A jerky nodding motion was his only response, and she looked over the sweat that had beaded on his forehead despite the relatively cool temperature of the room they were in. The man shook as he continued to watch her, almost like he was expecting her to vanish in a puff of smoke and leave him alone again. Taking a steadying breath, Madison tentatively reached out to him, putting one hand down in front of his body, palm up. She knew better than to touch him without his permission, but if he needed the grounding that only a physical touch could give, she was willing to give it to him.

Troy looked down at her hand, then to her face, and again to her hand. He nervously licked his lips, and she could practically see the gears in his head working furiously. Making up his mind he grasped her hand like it was his only lifeline and hauled her into his space. Her eyes widened as she felt his arms close around her, his mess of brown hair tickling her chin as he drew her in. She felt him shudder as her arms carefully wrapped around him and Madison was worried that she’d moved too fast, but as his forehead awkwardly bumped her clavicle, his whisper was barely audible.

“Don’t leave me.”

His face was hidden by that unruly hair, and the way he leaned into her gave her the sneaking suspicion that Troy didn’t want to be looked at directly, so she focused instead on getting both of them into a more comfortable position on the hard concrete. Shifting her long legs she stretched them out and away from her so that they could keep her propped against the shelves as her arms were otherwise occupied with the man at her side. It wasn’t much of an improvement, but it would have to do.

“I won’t leave you, I promise.” Madison murmured into his hair, one hand gently combing through it, while the fingers on her other hand trailed soothing circles along his back. His breath was coming hot and fast against her chest, but his shaking was lessening, so she took that as a sign that she was doing something right.

As a counselor she had never gotten this physical with a student, as much as she knew some of the kids she worked with probably needed the physical comfort. She had always been hesitant to cross that line and her reasons were deep-seated and not worth trying to unpack without a few drinks in her. But right now, with Troy partially sprawled across her lap and her arms holding him snugly in place, it just felt right. Right now he needed her, and they weren’t in the old world where she could talk to him for 30 minutes and then call his parents and encourage them to get him help. This was different. He was a fractured adult in a world that could eat stronger people alive, and if he showed her his weakness here and she helped him so that he could walk away from this intact, then damn it she’d sit on the cold concrete with him for as long as he needed her to.

As she continued the soothing motions, Madison softly spoke to him again. She knew that even if she could ground him with her physical presence, she still needed to calm him down, slow his breathing and decrease his heart rate. Easier said than done.

“Troy…Can you take a few deep breaths with me?”

The young man moved his head from its spot against her chest, his stormy blue eyes focusing on her. He didn’t look quite as panicked as when she first found him, but he wasn’t back to himself just yet. He chewed his lower lip for a moment as he looked over her face before nodding.

“…Yeah, I can do that.” His voice was low and shaky, almost as though he didn’t trust himself to speak. She gave him what she hoped was her most reassuring smile before breathing deeply through her nose. Troy followed her lead and they both exhaled at the same time, their breath mingling in the fraction of space between their faces. They inhaled in tandem again and this time Troy closed his eyes, finally seeming to relax a bit. As they exhaled Madison felt the tension start to leave his body. Her hands worked their way across the expanse of his back, continuing their gentle motions as she felt his arms loosen ever so slightly from her body. He shifted his weight a little as one arm moved from around her neck to hold onto her back, she was vaguely aware that his other hand was gently grasping her hair. They took another breath together, and when he exhaled Troy opened his eyes again, his gaze traveled from her hazel orbs down to her lips.

She should have said something when she felt the hand he’d had in her hair move to cup the back of her head, but words failed her as he tentatively closed the space between them. It was soft and slow, almost hesitant, and the polar opposite of what she would have expected a kiss from this man to be. And yet as his chapped lips moved over hers, her heartbeat sped up and her eyes fell closed for just a moment. Her hands stilled on his back as she felt his body relax against her own.

After a few moments Troy reluctantly ended the kiss, noticing that Madison hadn’t entirely responded to his actions. His expression had been on the verge of contentment but now his brow creased as he looked down at her, obviously trying to think of a quick out to the situation he created. Hoping to quickly break his train of thought and steer him out of any potential pitfalls, Madison quickly moved her hands to either side of his face, guiding him down so that their foreheads were touching. Making eye contact with him once again, she soothed any concerns he may have been having in his mind with her voice.

“Shhhh, you’re doing really well. I’m not going anywhere.”

Her counselor mode still going strong, her primary concern was making sure Troy didn’t lapse back into his panic attack, which meant she’d have to assess her feelings on their kiss and what it meant later. It was entirely possible that in such a vulnerable state the youngest Otto just needed some kind of affection, and he wasn’t thinking clearly when he made that decision. Sometimes when you’re in a mental fog you say things and do things that you wouldn’t normally do, right? She wasn’t going to worry about it.

Madison studied his face and it occurred to her just how tired he really looked in that moment. Dark circles made the blue of his eyes even more intense than usual, and the longer she watched him the more he seemed to be tiring. She pulled away from him, tucking the loose strands of wavy hair behind his ears, a warm maternal smile returning to her face.

“Lets get you to bed, you look exhausted.”

Troy blinked a few times as her words took a bit longer than usual to process. Nodding, he pulled out of her embrace and shakily got to his feet. “Y-yeah, that would be nice, but I’ve got a patrol in…” He looked blearily down at the watch on his wrist. “Four hours.”

“That just means you get three and a half hours to sleep this off. Come on.” Noticing the slight wobble when he took a step, Madison casually put one of his arms over her shoulders. Steadying him with a hand on his chest, they made their way to the back of the pantry, where a smaller set of stairs led up into the main house. There was no way in hell Madison was going to let Troy go out on patrol with little to no sleep, but HE didn’t have to know that.

As they walked up the narrow stairs and into the relative darkness of the Otto house, Madison was thankful that she had woken up before everyone else. The last thing either of them needed right now were prying eyes and questions. From the way he was leaning on her, it wouldn’t have been much of a stretch to assume he had been drinking a bit too much, but just being careful enough to avoid everyone suited the Clark matriarch just fine.

Troy shuffled his feet in the direction of a long hallway and she allowed him to lead her further into the silent house. The couple stopped in front of a partially open door and Madison was thankful that the room was on the first floor. She nudged the door open with the toe of her boot and together they made their way into the room. It wasn’t tidy and the bed was unmade, but she hadn’t exactly expected an immaculate den either. Closing the door behind her, she turned around as Troy made his way over to the messy bed, flopping down on it without even bothering to change.

Resisting the urge to chuckle, she walked over to the bed and pulled the sheets out from under him.

“At least take your boots off, Troy.” She teased, sitting down on the end of the bed. He groaned softly, rolling onto his back and looking down the bed at her, trying to decide if she was being serious. She arched one brow at him and he sighed, pulling the laces apart before kicking them off to land with a dull thud on the floor.

Satisfied, Madison stood and carefully covered him in the sheets, followed by a flannel blanket that was tangled at the foot of his bed. Troy watched her through heavy lidded eyes, his expression unreadable. Standing up straight and stretching her back, she let a small smile slip onto her face.

“Sleep now,” She said softly as he continued to watch her. “The ranch will still be in one piece when you wake up, I promise.”

As she turned to leave, his voice halted her steps.

“Madison, wait.”

Shaking her head, she turned to face him. Troy looked uncertainly at her, catching her hazel eyes in his blue ones once more.

“Can you, uh, stay here?” He ran a nervous hand through his hair, trying to think of a way to play off this sudden need for her company. “You know, just until I fall asleep.”

She tilted her head to the side, knowing better. Sometimes after a person shows you that they have a vulnerable side, a weakness, they feel the need to overcompensate, to distract from the fact that you saw them in such a state. Some use aggression, some use bravado, others use flat out bribery and intimidation. Madison didn’t feel like finding out what Troy would do later. Walking over to the desk in the corner of his room, she pulled out the chair and turned it so she could face him from where she sat down.

“I will,” She began. “As long as you don’t go completely off the rails with this later.”

It was his turn to arch his eyebrows at her statement. She sighed, continuing.

“We can’t be strong all the time, and this doesn’t change anything. What happens between us stays between us, you got that?”

Troy gave her a tired smile, folding his arms behind his head. A small laugh escaped him, and he finally closed his eyes.

“Yes ma'am.”

**Author's Note:**

> I got a request for this on my Tumblr, if you would like to make Troy/Madison requests, please feel free to send them here, I don't bite, and I'm very... open-minded. -wink wink-  
> https://www.tumblr.com/blog/shinketsukarasu  
> This is my first attempt at writing after about ten years, please be gentle with me!  
> Thanks to the amazing Lostinmysticfalls for beta reading this!


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